


Questions From An Inquisitive

by sesame_syrup



Category: Agent Carter (TV), Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Canon Compliant, F/M, Headcanon, Steggy - Freeform, Steggy Week 2020, SteggyWeek20, this is much longer than i first anticipated
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-26
Updated: 2020-07-26
Packaged: 2021-03-05 23:07:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,895
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25533343
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sesame_syrup/pseuds/sesame_syrup
Summary: After Steve came back, it was natural for Peggy to have questions about the future. She just doesn't always ask them at the best times.for steggy week 2020, day 6: headcanons and fav moments
Relationships: Peggy Carter/Steve Rogers
Comments: 3
Kudos: 82





	Questions From An Inquisitive

She was a curious person. It came with being an intelligent woman — always seeking information and wanting to know the truth in every situation.

So when Steve had come back to 1949 from the year 2021, citing aliens and robots and time travel — yes, she was going to have many questions.

He couldn’t just expect her to hold them in all the time, and after awhile he welcomed any questions she had. If it was something he could tell her. He truly wanted to share everything with his wife, and loved being able to tell her all about the years he spent in the future, but there were still some things not meant to be spoken about in the 1950’s.

“Steve?” She would begin, always forming questions when alone with her thoughts.

“Hmm?” He looked up from the newspaper, coffee in hand, the radio reporting the news in the background. Sometimes it surprised even Steve just how well he’d readjusted to being back.

“What is the future like?” Peggy had asked one morning a month following his return. She had asked a few questions following the long discussion they had the day he appeared on her doorstep, but those questions revolved around him and his journey. Now that she was caught up on Steve, Peggy wanted to know more about the world he’d lived in, minus the flying robots and aliens.

“That’s a broad question,” he answered, smirking over the newspaper.

She tutted, putting down her tea cup. “Hardly — I just mean the big differences between here and there. The daily life, the people, the culture differences. Did you have anything you really loved about it?”

Steve put the paper down now, giving her his undivided attention. He pondered a moment, sinking back in the dining chair.

“Well, the food is quite good. I’ll have to make you some dishes I really enjoyed. They’re definitely more adventurous with food than we are.” Steve sometimes still fantasized about the burgers and pizzas he and Sam would order at restaurants in D.C. Now there’s nothing but diners. “Everything is very loud and bright, especially in the cities. Cars are louder and much larger. People are too,” he chuckled.

“Larger?”

“Yes, there’s a love for fast food — they call it that because you can pull up to a window and they give it to you, never have to get out of the car. But it can be decent tasting, even if it’s horrible for you.”

“What about the roles of women?”

He huffed a laugh, she was going for the hard hitting questions now. “It’s a lot better than now, for sure. It’s not perfect, but there’s a fight for equality. Just as many women go to college as men, and occupy the same jobs. There is a bit of a wage gap sometimes, but they’re working on it.”

“Brilliant. And technology? You’ve told me about some of it—“

“Probably the biggest difference, yeah. Televisions in every room, computers that fit in a backpack, and even smaller handheld computers that no one can get enough of.”

“Cell phone?” She recalled. Steve had constantly found himself looking for his about a week back in the 50’s.

“Mm-hm. People can’t get enough of them. You can ask it a question and it will search a world wide database for the answer and have it in seconds. Plus you can call people,” he joked, knowing many people did not use their phones for that purpose. Tony had specifically told Steve to stop calling him if his question could be answered with a text message.

Peggy decided that was enough questions to bother Steve with at nine in the morning, but her mind still drifted. She was the type of person who needed every detail in order to imagine it, especially when it was a whole world set seventy years in the future. Steve could see the wonder in her eyes as her thoughts drifted and she sipped her tea languidly. He mentally prepared himself for the plethora of questions he knew were coming.

-

“Steve!” he heard her cry from the bedroom upstairs. He jumped into action, sprinting up the stairs, met with Peggy sticking her head out from behind the bedroom doorframe.

“What — what’s wrong?” He was at her side now, looking her over for injuries before she spoke.

“Do people still smoke in the future? Because I just feel like it’s bad for us and no one quite knows about it yet.”

Steve stared at her in disbelief, before sighing. “Yes, it’s very bad for people. Not a lot of people did it anymore. It causes a lot of health problems.”

Peggy gave a satisfied nod, before returning to her case files laying on her desk in the office across from their bedroom.

Steve sighed again, retreating downstairs.

-

Steve laid in bed, listening to the distance sound of the shower down the hall. He’d meant to wait for Peggy before falling asleep but the book he was reading was horribly dull and he drifted despite any efforts to stay awake.

“Steve,” he heard her whisper.

He opened his eyes to see her next to his face, causing him to jump back and Peggy to laugh at his started expression. She removed her dressing gown, sliding into bed next to him.

“Sorry, I was only wondering,” Steve inwardly groaned. “What is women’s fashion like? Do they still wear stockings everyday? Heels all the time?” He smiled despite himself, wiping the tired from his eyes.

“Uh, no and no. Women dress a lot more relaxed, not as many frills. Even when they’re working, depending on the company,” he smiled at the offended look she gave him. “They don’t wear dresses as much, mostly slacks for professional wear. But for casual wear both men and women wear denim jeans a lot. They’re pretty comfortable.” He yawned. “Oh! And all the clothes are very tight, I don’t know why, but every shirt I ever bought I eventually ripped trying to get on.”

Peggy raised an eyebrow. “Or perhaps it’s from all the robust girth you have to hold up all day,” she teased, waving a hand over his torso. “The shirts of the future can’t hold Steve Rogers back.”

Steve gave a sleepy smile, sinking further into his pillow as she turned off the bedside lamp.

—

The next night, Peggy wasn’t as courteous with the timing of her questions.

“Steve?”

“Mm?” He hummed, sending a chill up her spine.

“Did you ever use those internet dating applications you mentioned?”

He halted his actions, peering up at her. “Peggy,” he breathed, “Am I boring you? Because I’m a little in the middle of something.”

She giggled. “Of course not, darling.” Peggy ran a hand through his scalp. “Quite the opposite, actually — I was simply curious as to how you came to be so well skilled, and remembered youmention the use of dating on the internet and how many people only used it for casual flings.”

He could hear the taunt in her voice, as well as an alluding jealousy. Steve couldn’t help but smile, pressing a kiss to her inner thigh then shifting himself upwards until they were face to face.

“Once,” he said, propping himself up on his elbow, letting his other hand graze her hip.

Peggy raised an eyebrow, smirking wildly. “And how was it?”

Steve groaned inwardly, burying his forehead in the pillow. This wasn’t something he had been prepared to discuss, let alone something he’d thought she would want to hear. He settled onto his back, gazing at the ceiling.

“Alright, you don’t have to say,” she said, turning onto her side.

“It’s just a little embarrassing,” Steve sighed. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to share, it was just his own pride. His own desire to leave those awkward moments in his past, he was here now, why worry about what felt like forever ago? Steve caught himself, suddenly aware that he wasn’t being fair. He knew she had been with other men, she’d willingly told him about Daniel, and the few others she’d had brief flings with.

He sighed once more, looking at Peggy as she was still smirking, patiently waiting. She deserved to know.

“I used the online dating once, and vowed never to do it again.”

“That bad?”

“The only date I went on was with a girl named Olivia. She was nice enough, but very forward,” Steve shook his head, remembering her wild, red hair. “Or maybe I was just awkward.”

“How so?”

He sighed once more, chuckling at her persistence. “Well…obviously I hadn’t had much experience at that point with women. This was within a year of me being in the — the future — you know. Tony told me I was too uptight and looking pretty bored so he downloaded the dating app on my cell phone.” Steve continued, “It’s very odd how they go about it. Maybe even a little degrading. Nevertheless, I started talking to Olivia. Learning about someone through text it very difficult, so after about two days of talking I just wanted to meet in person, so I asked her to dinner.”

“Was she who she said she was? Or were you Cat-Dished?”

“Cat-fished, dear — and no. Like I said, she was nice. I was worried she was just there because she knew I was Captain America, but I still don’t think she ever realized. But we talked about her for the most part because I couldn’t think of a damn thing regarding myself that wasn’t Avengers or war related.”

“Did she not ask you questions at all then?” Peggy scoffed.

“She did, but I tried skirting around them, and I suppose I lied a good bit about many of them — like my age. It didn’t occur to me until I was on the date that we shared very little life experience. She was saying slang words that I didn’t know the meaning of, and making references to movies I’d never seen, bands I’d never heard of, history that I hadn’t lived through, places I didn’t know existed — it made me realize just how much things had changed…”

Steve trailed off, a glazed look in his eye.

“It must’ve been lonely.” Peggy held his hand now, stroking her fingers along his.

He shrugged. “It just made me miss home — and you — even more,” he whispered, pressing her hand to his lips.

Steve shifted, hovering over her and kissing her gently. He brought his arms around her waist, perking up at the feeling of being close once more. After a moment though, she halted his movements. “Hang on, how did your date end then?”

He groaned, dropping his head to her shoulder, pausing a long moment before lifting his head to look her in the eyes. “If you must know, she dragged me into the alleyway behind the restaurant and tried to shove her hands down my pants.”

Peggy was on the verge of cackling, but kept her composure as not to hurt his pride any more. “She sounds charming.”

“After that she took me back to her apartment — which after the alley I don’t know what I was expecting, but once again she was all over me as soon as the door closed. I excused myself to the bathroom, and she followed me, and my pants were already unbuttoned so she…” Steve pursed his lips, trying to imply what exactly Olivia did to him in her bathroom without having to say it.

Judging by her smug face, he knew Peggy got the gist.

“It wasn’t the best place for me to have that first experience…I ended up pulling her shower curtain down.”

“Oh yeah? That good hmm?” Steve was caught off guard by the sharpness of her tone, teetering between teasing and terse.

“We don’t have to talk about the details,” he nervously chuckled, really not wanting to kill the mood.

“No, it’s alright, I want to know what happened after your bathroom ride.” Her eyebrows were raised, waiting expectantly. Steve suddenly remembered he was naked.

“Well, uh, she offered me a drink, and I tried to drink the whole bottle. And then — then, uh…” he trailed off.

“Oh bloody hell, Steve, just say it. It was in the past, I’m not mad.” He almost said that she could’ve fooled him, but decided against it.

“Uh, she asked me to go down on her, which I expect I was quite terrible at, I had no idea what I was doing, but she was nice enough to let me know what to do."

“And did you have sex?”

Always so blunt.

Steve smiled a moment, before sobering once more. He laid on his side now, his arm pinned under her as she stared back at him.

He took a breath. “Yes.” Nodding, before continuing, “It wasn’t my proudest moment, losing my virginity to someone I barely knew. I guess maybe I was trying to fit in with the culture, and there was nothing else holding me back, so I thought fuck it, why not?”

“I can’t blame you,” Peggy gave him a sad smile. “You were just trying your best, and a ninety year old virgin is just sad.”

Steve genuinely laughed now, flipping to his back once more. Remembering a forgotten piece of the story he failed to mention, his smile slipped, provoking her to ask, “What, Steve?”

“It’s embarrassing, probably the most embarrassing part to me,” Steve muttered, the ceiling consuming his sight.

“What could be so bad?” She persisted.

Steve paused for a while, draping his arm over his face in attempt to hide. His mood was definitely ruined now.

“I — I — uh,” he cleared his throat. “I thought about you…during.” There was no response, so Steve removed his arm, chancing a look over at her.

She had the faintest hint of a smirk on her lips.

“It wasn’t my intention, really. I felt gross afterwards, but in the moment…my mind just wandered.” Pause. “I left immediately after because I felt so guilty.” Another pause. She was too quiet. “I’m sorry, I’m sure this is weird for you to hear.”

Peggy immediately shook her head, breaking into a smile now. “No, Steve, it’s alright, truly. It’s a little flattering even.”

“Flattering?” He snapped his eyes towards her, a puzzled look on his face.

“I mean, it’s nice to be thought of isn’t it? It’s nice to know you never forgot about me, even in those moments,” she teased with a kiss to his forehead.

Steve nodded. He had missed her, and in that moment it was just something that entered his mind, and there had been no going back. The mere thought of the girl on his lap transforming to the girl he’d lost to time was an overwhelming sensation that sent him over the edge quickly after.

“Besides,” Peggy broke his consciousness, “I’d be lying if I said I didn’t think about you while I was with someone else as well.” She kissed his shoulder.

Steve sat up at this, giddier then he’d intended to be. “Really?”

“Yes, darling,” she stroked his cheek. “It was a simple matter of us never being able to experience each other the way we wanted to. Subconsciously we just wanted to have that, and since at the time we thought it never possible, of course it’s natural for the mind to wander.”

Steve was delighted to have this typical, rational Peggy response. He didn’t feel so guilty anymore.

“I suppose it’s nice we don’t have to wonder,” she said, a hint of allure in her words.

“Indeed,” he responded before capturing her lips and shifting his weight above her once more.

-

“Steve?”

“Hmm?” He hummed, slowly falling asleep with her curled to his chest, stroking her arm with a thumb.

It was dark, the ceiling fan rocking back and forth, cooling them from the hot summer night. Steve felt her hold her breath.

Peggy paused another moment. “What happens to me in the future?” Her voice was raspy, laced with what Steve thought to be fear, but he couldn’t be sure as he’d so rarely heard her voice anything but confident or scolding.

The question at hand was a loaded one. Steve knew what occurred in his universe, but he still wasn’t positive whether this present would become that same future, or if this present was something entirely new. Was this Peggy the same Peggy from his past? Or an entirely new branch in the universe?

It was a question he knew Peggy likely had reserved for a long time. It was natural to wonder, but Steve couldn’t provide a definite answer.

“I’m not sure if your future is the same as that Peggy’s. This timeline could be completely new.” Steve grew stiff, suddenly uncomfortable.

She thought a moment. “Am I not permitted to know either way? It is _my_ future.”

“Yes, but it also might not come true. So what would be the point of knowing? Is it not enough to just accept it come as it does?” He felt himself getting more and more defensive. He’d been prepping for this, but now that it was here he only wanted to stuff it back down and forget it existed.

“Steve…Is something wrong? Does something happen to me in the future?” Peggy was sitting up now, staring at him expectantly.

Steve avoided her gaze, shifting out of bed. He switched on the bedside lamp and sat at the foot of the bed.

Peggy watched the back of his head, could see the distain on his features even without viewing them.

“You can tell me, Steve. I can handle it. Whatever it is.”

Steve huffed a laugh. He knew she could handle it, but could he handle it? Could he handle living her future twice?

He turned towards her, sighing heavily. “I don’t know a lot about your future. Like I said it might not be the same one you’ll actually live. But…in the timeline I came from, you were very successful in your career, of course. You should be proud of yourself — I know I am.” He chose to leave out the part of HYDRA infiltrating S.H.I.E.L.D. — when the time came he didn’t know what he would do, it was a matter of possibly changing the future or keeping information from her that could lose her trust.

“You lived a very long life, you had a family. I came to visit you when I found out you were still alive.” Steve gave a pitiful smile. “It was the best news I’d gotten since waking up from the ice.”

“You saw me? Old?” She exclaimed, bewildered.

Steve nodded. “It was great.” He smiled fondly at the memory. “Talking to you made me feel at home again. You were still the same — witty, sarcastic. Still managing to look glamorous at ninety-five years old.”

“That’s a relief. Was there anything else?”

An image of her coffin flashed to Steve’s mind. “Well…you died.”

“I guess that’s expected when you’re ninety-five bloody years old,” she joked, before sobering at the look on Steve’s face. “I’m sorry. That must’ve been…odd for you.”

“I carried your coffin,” he whispered. “It was like losing the last piece of myself.”

He remembered how lonely he’d felt that day. From when he got the text she had gone to when he carried his best girl to her final resting place.

“Oh, Steve. I am sorry. But…I’m glad you did. I think I would’ve wanted it that way.” Peggy shrugged.

Steve nodded his silent agreement.

“There’s something else.” he started, not exactly sure how to say it. “You had Alzheimer’s when I came to see you. That doesn’t mean you’ll get it in this timeline, but I suppose it is possible.”

“Oh,” she muttered. Steve grabbed her hand overtop the comforter.

“I don’t want you to worry about it, ok?”

In true Peggy form she squared her shoulders and nodded firmly. “Everyone’s got to go somehow, right?”

Steve nodded, but could see the underlying dismay in the curve of her mouth.

A moments silence passed before Peggy inquired once more, looking to change the subject.

“You mentioned a family.”

Steve hummed. “Yeah. Two kids.”

“Well — who — I mean — was there someone —”

“I don’t know. I only saw you and your kids in the photo.” A realization struck him. “I never even saw him at the funeral, but he might not have been alive still.” He trailed off, his mind attempting to recollect all the faces he’d seen at Peggy’s funeral. Could one of them had been her husband? A pang of jealousy rose in his chest.

Peggy was quiet for a moment.

“You said that you don’t know if this is a different timeline than that one, right?”

He nodded.

“Is it possible that it’s the same timeline? And you’re just living your life in one big, odd circle?”

His stomach sank all on its own as his mind raced far ahead of him. Steve wanted so much to believe this theory, because it could be true. And the thought made his heart soar. She was always been his beginning and end, but was it possible that he was hers as well? With all that had transpired in Steve’s life, he knew nothing could be ruled out.

Then he recalled her own words she’d spoke to him seventy years in the future, frail in the bed before him, struggling to speak.

_“I have lived a life. My only regret is that you didn’t get to live yours.”_

Her bright eyes shining with sadness and admiration stood out in Steve’s memory. Those words had haunted him for years following her death, and while he did try to have a taste of that “life” — duty’s call was much louder. No matter how much he tried — and no matter how many dates Nat tried to set him up on — there was no getting over the girl he left seventy years in the past. So he gave up, presuming his destiny was to die at the hands of Thanos.

To Steve, Peggy’s words had only ever had surface level meaning, but reconsidering them from the view point of someone who knew Steve’s future, he saw how it could come from a place of coaxing. To encourage and prod him into the decision he made to travel back in time.

Was she capable of being that cunning? Of course she was.

He grinned at the prospect.

“What?”

“Nothing. I don’t know if this is the same timeline, but if so…you’re more deceptive than you think you are darling,” Steve teased.

“I’ll happily take that as a compliment,” Peggy gloated with a smile.

He sighed, drinking in the image of her and the promise of what lied ahead. He would never be satisfied with the number of years he got to spend with her, but he knew they’d be filled with everything he’d been lacking in the years they were apart.

“I’m glad I came back,” he whispered.

Peggy gave a playful eye roll. “Yes, I gathered that since you didn’t leave after I nearly shot you when you turned up.”

Steve chuckled, reaching for the lamp and switching it off.

“It’s always a pleasure to stare down the barrel of your pistol.”


End file.
